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User blog:Maddiellabie/How to create your own modern DIY Sesame Street
By Madeline Fretz One of the truths of being a parent of small children in the 21st century is you’re constantly looking for the touchstones for what you loved as a child. For many of us, that obviously means Sesame Street ''(which I actually ''hate myself, but IRYO). But, other than just having your kids watch Episodes before Elmo , or singing all the most beloved songs ("Rubber Duckie", "C is for Cookie", "I love Trash"), Of course It's still running today, how can you construct a next gen version of what Joan Ganz Cooney wanted children’s entertainment to be? The reality is, the landscape of kids’ entertainment in 2019 is a far cry from what Ganz would have wanted. That’s not necessarily an inditement of quality of kids’ shows, it’s more of a comment on how much media has changed. You can’t just “turn on” PBS and hope for the best anymore. The reality of streaming media has changed the game, and that means kids’ entertainment is not only different in content, the way we watch it has changed the content. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t cobble together your own bespoke next generation Sesame Street (which, to no surprise, is actually still making new episodes). Here’s how. We’re not saying Ganz would approve of all of this, but the net result is close. So, here’s how to get closest to the spirit of Elmo, Cookie, Big Bird, and friends with five contemporary shows your kids will love! ''The Furchester Hotel And here you go; the heir to "where the air is sweet!". Created by Sesame Workshop for CBeebies, ''Furchester ''is the British co-production of ''Sesame Street. Elmo is here for an extended visit and is fascinated by all it has to offer, while Cookie Monster has gotten dream job as room service. In fact, Big Bird and Count Von Count show up in a few episodes, but are not permanent fixtures sadly. But Furchester ''carries its American counterpart's torch in a way that is less superficial. Of all the things on this list, it is clearly the most thoughtful. The writers try to include life lessons from the archives of ''Sesame ''magic. It’s an upbeat show, to be sure. But it’s also an unflinching one. And that quality makes it your best bet as a proxy Sesame Street in the unwieldy world of British kids TV. Tweenies '' '' ''Tweenies has been around for 20 YEARS now, and they are decidedly not as cool as the Sesame ''muppets. But one thing is very clear: Their hearts are in the right place. The songs can be grating, but like ''Sesame ''for American children, the intent here is to be comfort food for kids. The ''Tweenies are like Sesame Street, but with like fluorescent colours. (Both inside and out.) ''In the Night Garden... This one comes from Andrew Davenport, who is the same guy who created Teletubbies. For some parents, that particular credit might be a deal-breaker, but it shouldn’t be. Teletubbies is more telling than ITNG, even though I hate ''ITNG ''myself, it has the same gentleness as ''Sesame. Essentially, when you’re constructing your own DIY Sesame Street, this show is the first thing that comes to mind, because gentleness that doesn’t come in the form of a pre-constructed brand. In the Night Garden... has the same goofy uniqueness of the Sesame ''muppets, too. Show Me, Show Me This live-action series is excellent. Set in the 10th and final floor of a skyscraper, Show Me, Show Me presents real-life humans, catchy songs, and animated segments. But, like ''Sesame, it’s also a show about children and their feelings. And for that reason, is the on-air result of this CBeebies series bad. Nope. ''Yo Gabba Gabba!'' Let’s just get this out of the way: DJ Lance is a puppetmaster in an orange jumpsuit who lets 5 Banana Splits-esque characters out of his radio. These days, Gabba sometimes resembles a Broadway musical show with a cast of budding costumed characters, but that’s kind of all besides the point. As a Nick Jr. import, Yo Gabba Gabba! is kind of like a cooler Sesame Street. Like, if you were to mash-up Sesame Street with TRL, it would be Yo Gabba Gabba. But, just like Sesame, Yo Gabba Gabba features guest star segments -- both musical and non-musical. Some of its guests include Mya, Elijah Wood, Sean Kingston, Erykah Badu, My Chemical Romance, the Flaming Lips, Biz Markie, Mark Mouthersbaugh, Mates of State, and the Ting Tings. It's Sesame Street for hipsters with cool music, a way too energetic DJ, and 5 large characters, okay? It's something that Joan Ganz Cooney, Jim Henson, Richard Hunt, and Jon Stone would've loved. Category:Blog posts